Food will help Marks & Spencer post fourth quarter sales rise April 15, 2012 MARKS & SPENCER is expected to post a modest rise in fourth quarter sales tomorrow, as strong food sales help to offset more subdued growth at its general merchandising division. Analysts predict Britain’s biggest clothing retailer, whose clothes are modelled by the ‘60s supermodel Twiggy, to reveal a 1.6 per cent lift in like-for-like food [...]
Retailers race to refinance £7bn of debt April 15, 2012 RETAILERS will struggle to refinance debts of as much as $11.2bn (£7bn) due for maturity at the end of this year, leaving some firms at the mercy of their lenders and putting others in danger of insolvency, an industry report has warned. Some 46 UK based retailers hold bank debt totalling $50bn due for maturity [...]
Insurers under fire over cost of policy changes April 15, 2012 INSURERS face a new threat to their profits after Which launched a campaign against the fees charged on car and home policies. The industry, parts of which paid out large sums last year following a string of natural disasters around the world, stands accused of charging “exorbitant fees” for simple changes to policies. Consumer group [...]
Politicians must be more open about their tax affairs April 15, 2012 POLITICIANS have begun lining up to declare their willingness to publicly reveal their personal tax details. The practice will never result in true financial “transparency,” and the word shouldn’t even be used when talking about political leaders’ tax statements. Still, it’s a step in the right direction. Both established office holders and candidates for office [...]
Small businesses are lodging more complaints about loans April 15, 2012 SMALL COMPANIES are becoming increasingly frustrated at the strings attached to their loans and overdrafts, claims new research. The number of small firms lodging complaints with the Financial Ombudsman Service about their finances jumped 10 per cent in the last year from 394 to 435, figures from Syscap claim. This is a big jump from [...]
Glencore chief denies Congo mine claims April 15, 2012 GLENCORE yesterday defended itself against allegations it profited from child labour at a copper-cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The firm was responding to a BBC Panorama programme, due to air tonight, which claims children are working at the Tilwezembe open-pit mine. The Tilwezembe concession is owned by Toronto-listed Katanga, in which Glencore [...]
Shops hit out at plans to force cigarettes into plain packaging April 15, 2012 BRITISH retailers have reacted angrily to a government plan to force tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging, labeling it “crazy”. The legislation would make the recent costly ban on tobacco display redundant, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said. The BRC’s Andrew Opie hit out: “Having just forced large retailers to spend almost [...]
Oracle legal trial against Google kicks off in San Francisco court April 15, 2012 ORACLE is set to go to trial today against Google in a high-stakes dispute over smartphone technology, the biggest case in what is shaping up to be an intense year in court for the enterprise software giant. Jury selection is set for this morning in San Francisco federal court. Oracle claims Google’s Android operating system [...]
Labour calls for £5k donor cap April 15, 2012 ED MILIBAND yesterday called for a £5,000 cap on donations to political parties and tougher limits on election spending as he sought to seize the initiative in negotiations over the future of party funding. The Labour leader said the cap, which is significantly lower than the £50,000 limit being proposed by the Prime Minister, would [...]
Demand for banks to give early warning of interest rate rises April 15, 2012 BANKS will this week come under fresh political pressure to give customers greater notice of hikes in interest rates. Labour will tomorrow table an amendment to the Financial Services Bill after customers of Halifax were given a minimum of only 14 days’ notice of an increase in the standard variable rate, despite the record low [...]
